Jahangir

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Jahangir, detail from a painting by Bichitr , around 1620
Jahangir (r.) And Shah Abbas I of Persia (painting by Abu al-Hasan , around 1620)

Jahangir (German also: Dschahangir , Persian جهانگیر, DMG Ğahāngīr , 'World Conqueror '; full name: Nūruddīn Shāh Jahāngīr Pādshāh Ghāzī ; born August 31, 1569 in Fatehpur Sikri ; died October 28th Jul. / 7th November  1627 greg. in Khanpur Chingas / Kashmir , on the way to Lahore ) is the name Akbar's son Salīm gave himself as the ruler of the Mughal Empire . He ruled between 1605 and his death in 1627; his mother was the Hindu princess Mariam uz-Zamani, who had died only four years earlier .

In order to come to power he fought against his father as well as against his own brother, Prince Parviz. In the course of the power struggle, he murdered the minister Abu 'l-Fazl and already launched a campaign against the city of Agra before he was stopped by the mediation of the women of the family. Repeatedly rebuked by his father, Jahangir faced opposition from his own eldest son, Khusrau, even during Akbar's lifetime . He tried to conquer Lahore as early as 1607 , but was captured and - after another conspiracy - blinded and handed over to his brother Prince Khurram, the later Mughal Mughal Shah Jahan , for supervision.

Life

Like his father, Jahangir was characterized by a more scientific curiosity, passionately promoting painting and continuing Akbar's liberal religious policy. But he was also addicted to alcohol and opium , and suffered from asthma , so that the government slipped from him with increasing age. Although he reduced his alcohol consumption from 20 cups of double brandy to 6 cups of wine and 14 grains of opium a day, his health was poor. He combined many opposites, was considered just as cruel as it was loving and equally moody as well as fair.

As ruler, he tried to continue Akbar's policies and even surpass them, but because of his illness he left much of the business of government to his confidants. During his reign the treasury emptied; at the same time, corruption and administrative work increased enormously. In 1614, during Jahangir's reign, the Rajputs were pacified . Jahangir (himself the son of the Rajput princess of Amber) noted the pride of the Rajputs: no ruling Rana of Udaipur ( Mewar ) ever appeared at the Mughal court and no princess of Mewar went to the Mughal harem. The son of Amar Singh (r. 1597-1620), Karan Singh, however, went in and out of court and was warmly received.

On May 25, 1611, Jahangir married Mehr-un-Nisa, later known as Nur Jahan (also Nur Mahal ), in their 20th (and last) marriage , who soon exerted considerable influence on politics. Her father Itimad-ud-Daulah († 1622) became Grand Vizier. Thereafter, her brother Asaf Khan became the most influential person at the court, and her niece Mumtaz Mahal became the wife of Prince Khurram, who later became the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan . With Nur Jahan, the Persian group, the Iranis , also prevailed against Hindustanis and Turanis at court ; this caused an influx of scholars, artists and soldiers from Persia.

In the years after 1622, Jahangir's third son Prince Khurram (later Shah Jahan) found himself in a permanent but only half-hearted rebellion, as he was outplayed at the court of Nur Jahan and was supposed to go on a campaign against Persia , which he was in view of the unfavorable situation refused at court. In 1626 a general named Mahabat Khan tried to take Asaf Khan's position at court. He usurped the person of the emperor, but allowed Nur Jahan in his company. Soon she was snatching his own troops away from him, so that he had to flee to Shah Jahan himself.

After Jahangir's death on October 28, 1627, Asaf Khan eliminated his rivals on behalf of Shah Jahan and banished his sister Nur Jahan - financially well provided - to Lahore, where she devoted herself to building the tomb for her husband ( Jahangir mausoleum ) .

memoirs

Jahangir himself described his rule in his memoirs, the Tūzuk-i Jahāngīrī (later also called Jahāngīrnāma ). The memoirs are arranged chronologically and appear very personal, often like a diary. In addition to the usual activities of an emperor, such as promotions, receiving ambassadors and hunting, they contain a lot about curiosities, cities and countries, plants and animals, whatever interested the emperor. Especially as a hobby zoologist, Jahangir was at the height of his time. After his 17th year in reign, Jahangir was too ill to continue his Tūzuk himself and assigned the task to a chronicler.

See also

literature

  • Jahangir, Salīm Nūruddīn: The Jahangirnama. Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Wheeler M. Thackston, New York [u. a.]: Oxford Univ. Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8 .
  • - The Tūzuk-I-Jahāngīrī or Memoirs of Jahangir. Translated by Alexander Rogers and Henry Beveridge 1909 ( digitized ), rep. Delhi: Manohar, 2003. ISBN 978-969-35-1093-5 .
  • Heike Franke: Akbar and Ǧahāngīr. Studies on political and religious legitimation in text and images . EB-Verlag, Schneefeld 2005, ISBN 3-936912-34-3 ( Bonner Islamstudien 12), (also: Bonn, Univ., Diss., 2002).
  • Bamber Gascoigne: The Mughals. Splendor and greatness of Mohammedan princes in India. Prisma Verlag, Gütersloh 1987 ISBN 3-570-09930-X .

Web links

Commons : Jahangir  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.bridica.com/EBchecked/topic/299395/Jahangir
  2. ↑ The Tūzuk-I-Jahangiri tr. Rogers 1909, rep. Delhi: Manohar 2003, pp. 307-309
  3. ↑ For example in his description of a turkey ( Tūzuk p. 216), the birth of elephants (p. 264) and the breeding behavior of the Sarus crane (p. 343). Tūzuk quoted from The Tūzuk-I-Jahāngīrī tr. Rogers 1909, rep. Delhi: Manohar, 2003.
predecessor Office successor
Akbar I. Mughal Mughal of India
1605–1627 		Shah Jahan
personal data
SURNAME Jahangir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Selim, son of Akbar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mughal Mughal of India
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1569
PLACE OF BIRTH Fatehpur Sikri
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1627
Place of death Khanpur Chingas, Kashmir